Now wrapping up the second season of this pathetic self-indulgence, I tend to say a little less, and forward items I've found here and there a little more. I have just the minimal wisdom required to recognize that my view of the world, and my life in it, is nothing special, and neither is yours and that's why I don't read your blog... And to anyone even close to conscious this is obviously a lead in to some personal blather.
It is Friday. I am out on the north fork of Long Island, NY, where we have a little (very) house. Hurricane Irene came for a visit last Sunday and Monday. The power went back on last night, so that made five days without electricity or hot water. Plenty of cold water, none hot.
It's odd. I never thought I'd say this, because let's face it, we live a lot better than our parents did in the first half of the 20th Century. I like heat in winter and air conditioning in summer. I like television: well, sports and "Deadliest Catch". The computer is fine; an amazing resource -- although it seems more and more information from the web is untrue (propaganda) -- but typing a letter on the thing is undeservedly easy.
During the power outage I learned that I missed hot water but pretty much nothing else. Bags of ice in the freezer kept the milk cold, just like in grandma's time. (The frozen food had to be tossed.) I didn't miss television at all, it's a crass intrusion anyway. Yes, as did Ben Franklin and Abe Lincoln, you can read by candlelight. (Those dudes must have gone through a ton of candles!) Radio today really sucks -- nothing but nutty talk-show hosts and bad pop music. (I craved Johnny Dollar, Jack Benny, and The Great Gildersleeve.) But we did find a local station broadcasting pertinent information, such as the local fire department had a generator and was offering hot showers to the public. Without lights burning in every damn room, we went to bed earlier and got up earlier. We did have propane for the stove and thus could cook, but it was easier to grill and eat simply. (Otherwise dirty pots must heat hot water with which to wash them.)
Let me say here and now that I am aware of the fabulously high level of bullshit in this riff. There are people in New York State and Vermont who will not have power for weeks, and many have young children. Unlike my wife and me, they will truly suffer. (Joplin, Missouri. Oh, dear.) So I had no power for five days. Big deal. And, those without power for an indefinite period will surely struggle under the hardship, but they will get through. Nevertheless, I sit here and hope that their lives will, at least in some small way, be ever different, as I hope will mine.
When the power came back on yesterday, something within me was disappointed. Last night we watched a "Jack Frost" British detective show on Netflix and went to bed early. The Television is off now, and I hear the cicadas up in the trees, sirens going full tilt. And, I don't know what goes on with crickets in August and September, but they sure are talking it up out there. The whole yard sounds like the rhythm section of a Latin band.
Have we lost something in our modern lives? We know we have. It's so hard to go back, though, and get simpler. Isn't it? A bunch of Thoreaus we ain't. I have friends, as I'm sure do you, who like to go camping. A tent and a fire. Maybe they learn a simple truth from it. Maybe they read by candlelight. Me? I like a hotel with a clean bathroom.
We will remember that cruise to Greece and The Parthenon all our lives, carrying the experience and it's enrichment with us somewhere deep in our minds. What a waste that after all these recent events, whether natural or economic, and all the oh so important lessons they bring, we go back to the comfy chair and "Wheel of Fortune". B.O.
